The Electric Youth (10/22)

Music is one of my most favorite things. I love to sing, dance, and learn about music. Lately it has become a topic in our lives a lot. In the last several years, we’ve lost so many incredible artists. People who have brought an incontrovertible impact on music as we know it. I listen to them, they are the background for much of life, yet I realized that my kids don’t necessarily recognize them or understand the body of work they bring. 

We recently lost Eddie Van Halen. I grew up in the MTV era when it was actually Music Television, so I definitely remember Van Halen videos. It’s hard to explain this to kids, but in the morning drives, I’ve become a music history educator. Well, my music history. 

Thanks to streaming music, I can teach music in the car. It’s better overall probably. MTV didn’t teach me as much about music as it did informing me that WhiteSnake isn’t worried about women scratching the paint on the car. 

We started out with Van Halen. I tried to explain how much they brought to rock music. Carson nodded solemnly. Then I tried to explain David Lee Roth. You know, maybe MTV was handy, because you cannot explain Roth without video. 

The next day was Elton John. Another artist who really knows how to vibe in the video/visual format. The songs tell stories and I pointed that out while singing along. 

Day 3 was a personal favorite: Fleetwood Mac. Rumours came out the year I was born so I’ve never known a time without the Mac. I told Carson the numerous times I’ve wanted to see them in concert, but they’d break up again. He innocently asked why. Hmm. I don’t think a middle schooler is ready for the backstory of that band. So I shrugged. 

I’ve spent the weekend planning the next round of music. I’ll have both boys with me and they have a varied taste in music. I’m thinking we’ll kick it off with Queen! It’s so fun to talk about Freddie Mercury and the flashy show he’d bring to the stage. The creativity behind it all. They are familiar with Queen living with me as their mother, but I want them to enjoy the band. 

This may cost me readers, but I’ve never been a huge Beatles person. It has been suggested and  I do have things I like, of course. Their catalogue is gigantic! So I’ll pick and choose fun favorites and talk about the history. It’s not really my history. My history is more Aerosmith, U2, Tom Petty, and Madonna. 

No tour of Ashlea’s music favorites would be complete without the embarrassing stuff. In middle school, I abandoned all good sense and suddenly loved New Kids on the Block and Debbie Gibson. I had a bottle of Debbie Gibson’s Electric Youth “perfume”. That’s in quotes because I’m not sure what it actually was, but a cat knocked it off my dresser and it broke. For weeks I regretted Electric Youth and even Debbie Gibson herself. It was hot pink, fruity -sweet rubbing alcohol in a rad bottle, I guess. There’s a lesson in this for the electric youth of today: Eddie Van Halen didn’t need a “perfume”. 

Please Vote (10/8)

"We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate." Attributed to Thomas Jefferson. 

It was true in his time and it is true now.

In 2016, 55% of our voting age population in the United States actually voted. Internationally, the U.S. placed 26th out of 32 highly developed nations in voter turnout. (PewResearch.org, May 2018) We talk a lot about pledging allegiance to our Republic, but we don’t support it in the voting both. Other countries are showing us up in that regard. 

The majority of states within the US have 70-75% of eligible voters. Turnout within each state is no where near that. 

Are you planning to vote? 

I’ll be voting. This year marks 100 years since women have had the right to vote. Excuse me, white women only. Even in the push to level the playing ground, there was still an opportunity to continue oppression. Isn’t that bizarre? 

It still happens today. 

A friend of mine has breast cancer. She has insurance, thankfully, because just FOUR of the expected twelve chemotherapy treatments are over $100,000. That’s so horrific to see and it should make us all angry. Another friend in the UK also has cancer. She has no idea how much the top treatments are because she never sees a bill. She is getting wonderful care and I’m so thankful.

I know there’s an argument brewing inside you, but keep reading. My husband is a disabled veteran. He was injured on active duty in 2005. I’m absolutely positive that his treatment total is over a million dollars. I can’t prove it without a lot of effort because we’ve never seen a bill. Praise the Lord, I’m so thankful. I know you think he earned that by serving others. How do you feel about police officers? What about volunteer fire fighters? EMS? Nurses? Teachers? What about people who maintain the septic systems? The people who keep trash from overwhelming our streets? The people who maintain internet and 911 systems? The people who serve your food? What about you? What about your sibling, your best friend, your children as they grow up, and your parents as they get older? If Craig had gotten hurt running his own business, as he does now, we likely would’ve lost everything. Many Americans do. Go Fund Me shouldn’t be America’s option for healthcare. We can do better! 

All I want you to do is consider it. I got a refill for my asthma medicine prior to getting married. It was $100 for 30 pills. A month after I was married it was $9. What did I do to deserve such a discount other than marry into the military life? I sat in my car holding the bottle and thinking about the people who struggle to heat their home in the winter, buy groceries, and get 30 pills to keep them out of the hospital. I prayed, humbled by the blessing I received, and wondered how to help others. 

I don’t know how you feel after reading this. You might dismiss me as a liberal snowflake. That’s ok, I’ve been called worse & I love snow. But as you focus on pro life issues, I offer the comments made by a woman I know: “I couldn’t afford the prenatal care. I wish I could have.”

Please Vote. 

Trumpters (10/1)

There’s no argument that this is a contentious society. Well, in fact, there is an argument that is so contentious, I recently posted abut how contentious it is and started an argument with people who angrily proclaimed that it’s not. Do with that what you will, but I actually have some good news and it’s about trumpeters. No, I mean trumpets. The loud, brassy ones. The instrument!

Carson, my oldest, recently returned to in-person school at the middle school. It was a great choice as to get him some extra help with 6th grade math because I found out last year I’m only as smart as a 5th grader. I would be remiss if I didn’t give a huge shoutout to Perquimans Middle School. They got him switched so quickly it was a surprise! Also, every teacher was ready for him and he got a warm welcome returning from the virtual world. In fact, everyone was thrilled with the change except our young kitten and Carson’s brother, Andrew. They’ve been together almost entirely since March 13th. This generation of children have challenges the rest of us cannot fathom.

One of the things Carson was most looking forward to in his return was band. He’s so excited to be a part of that finally as a trumpet player! I enjoyed marching band so much in the David Ziemba days of Perquimans Marching. My husband, Craig, was in marching, jazz, and concert band for trumpet in California. 

Carson is learning to play on Craig’s main trumpet. I say main because that guy has a lot of brass. Craig got one of his other trumpets and they sat down to play. He let Carson try out 5 different mouth pieces to find the best fit. They worked together on basic skills and the scale while I looked on in pride. Andrew covered his ears to be funny, but he said it wasn’t so bad.

It really isn’t bad. I thought having a trumpeter in the house, especially a brand new beginner, would be rough, but it isn’t. I listen to him rehearse the rudimentary skills and think “tighten your lips…yes! That’s it!” He tries until he gets it right. His mouth gets tired quickly, but that improves with time as building the chops. Craig should work on his chops, too, and they can play together! I think they will in time. I told Carson that you practice until you get it right and then you practice until you can’t get it wrong.

Friday, the band played a song together. Carson had memorized the notes and was confident in it. He told me it was great hearing everyone together and listening to each other. Sometimes it was good….then not so good…but then good again. 

I think that’s true for a lot of things. Sometimes it’s rough. We have to tighten up, listen to each other, and work until we cannot get it wrong. Even in contentious times, a melody can emerge. We can even find life lessons from trumpeters in a middle school band.

Virtually Wonder Woman (9/24/2000)

Back in July, when I was younger and still full of hope, I ran across a Wonder Woman virtual 5K sign up online. Everything is virtual these days and I’m virtually tired of that. However, fun fact about me, I love Wonder Woman. It was my nickname for several years because I dressed up like her for a kids thing at church and then at Camp Cale, so it stuck. I collect little Wonder Woman things because it’s fun. This particular race had a ton of merchandise and I was really stoked about getting it all. I was willing to even to do a whole 5K to get it.

Years ago, my trusty brother-in-law, Aaron, got sucked in to my newest running phase. I wanted to out run my age, basically, so he joined me and we set out to basically destroy ourselves that summer. I had a doctor look directly at me and say, “you should get more salt and exercise less,” which convinced me that we had run directly into the Twilight Zone. Later that same day, Aaron went running without me and sprained his ankle. That concluded our experience as runners. 

So when I tell you I was willing to run, this is a whole entire crazy statement. I’m TEN years older now and still very much not a runner. I kept looking at the Wonder Woman pullover, shiny medal, official running bib, even terry cloth wrist bands straight out of 1985. I mentioned it to Craig, who is used to me “getting ideas” after 17+ years of ideas. I told him the merchandise was so good, the year so bad, I just couldn’t resist it.

Fast forward to today. I am absolutely tired of virtual school, virtual life, and basically everything. I’m so worried about school, my kids, this town, this nation…etc. I had decided I wanted to just hibernate, despite the day being the best temperature in months. The mail came, and there sat my race packet! Craig had signed me up, which I knew, but also upgraded me to get a cool hat too. I opened it all up and admired the loot. I picked up the medal, a legit metal runners medal. My bib had my number and name on it.

So I smiled to myself and got ready to run.

I ran that thing today. Well, I walked a lot and ran as much as I could. The first mile was good. The second mile was terrible. I wondered if I should quit. I texted my husband my current pace and he said he was impressed! So I took a long drink of water, cranked up my music, and took off again. 

I did it in just under an hour, which isn’t important. The important thing was feeling great that I had accomplished a big personal goal. The race itself was virtual, but showed up for the real life work. My guys had a medal ceremony for me when I got home because they are amazing humans. I took a hot shower and had some Ibuprofen. I’m definitely sore, but I can’t help but be happy. So take that 2020! I am Wonder Woman!